Insulator



No. 626,065. Patented May 30, l898x w. E. HOLMES: INSULATO'B.

(plied-inn 810d l'eb. 16, 1899.) kl!) Hodgl.)

Q5. AJEQEELF'R U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' WELLES E. IIQLMES, OFv NEVTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

- INS-U LAT'O R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 626,065, dated May 30, 1 899. Application filed February 16,1899. Berial No. 705,637. No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WELLns E. IIoLnEs, of,

Newton, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massaehusetts,.l1ave invented certain new and .useful Improvements in Insulators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to insulators for conductors, such as electric-light, telephone, .or-telegraph wires; and it has for its oi n'ect to provide a device of the character mentioned particularly applicable forenspending or supporting the conductors from trees or other objects that are liable to move or sway; \Vhen the wires are Strung near the branches of trees, the swinging of the latter frequently causes them to rub against the wires and abrade the insulating material thereon. This may be prevented in a certain degree by mechanically connecting the wires to. the limbs by insulators; but heretofore this has been impracticable, first, by reason of the diiliculty'of attaching the wires which have been already strung to the insulators, and, second, because the rigid attachment of the wires to the limbs rendered them unsafe and liable to be broken when the trees were swayed about by storms and high winds.

The present invention provides an insulator which may be secured to the limb or branch of a tree to move therewith when tossed or swayed by the wind, which is formcd for attachment to a wire already strung and which has provisions for permitting the wire to move relatively thereto without injury to the wire or the' insulating material thereon.

The present'invention further provides an insulator in which the parts are capable of movement in various directions, all as illustrated upon the drawings and now to be described in detail.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters designating the same parts 'or features,

as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 represents in side elevation an insulator embodying my inven-' tion. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 represents a front elevation of the insulator. Fig. 4 represents a vertical section thcrethrough on the line4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents the clamping members dotached from the insulating-spool for the purpose of clamping the wire therein. Fig. (i represents a horizontal section ou'the line 6 G of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the insulator consists, mainly, of three parts, the metallic support a, the insulatingspool b, and the clamp c. The support is pro vided with a screw a, which may be driven into the limb of a tree or into a pole. The other end ofthe support is bifurcated to provide two arms a, which form a semicircle, as ,shown in Fig. 2, and between thearms a and the screw is a shoulder a, which forms a head for the latter. Trunnionecl in apertures in the ends of the'arms a is a ring formediu two parts b b, of which the part b is in the form of a semicirle and has its ends If pro jccted radially to form the trunnions. other half 11 0f the ring is secured in place by bending its ends around trunnions, so as to loosely clasp the spool between it and the portion b of the ring. The part L of the ring is secured in the support when the insulator is ready for use, and after the support has been driven into place by the lineman the spool is clamped to the part b by the other half 7:", which, as will be seen from the drawings, may be a strip of wire.

The spool 11, which is constructed of any suitable insulating material, such as porcelain or glass, is provided-with a groove 1)" to receive the ring, and it is substantiallyfrustoconical, with the top'rounded. its lower portion is formed with the usual skirts Ir" l1, and His provided with a threaded socket U for the clamp. r i

The metallic clamp c is formed intwo portions c c, which are separable on longitudinal lines, as shown in Fig. 5. At one end the clamp is threaded, as at c", to be screwed into the socket Not the spool, and at its other end it is formed with an aperture c"-grea1or in diameter than the conductor (1 to permit the latter to play therein.

Inasmuch asthe insulator, as previously stated, is to be used for wires or conductors that have been already strung, it is evident that the parts must be so related that the then inserted in the spool. 'lhis is accomplished byforining the clamp in two separate support a. l

portions and mounting the spool rolalably in the support, for it is obvious that the clam p cannot be minted aller it has been engaged with the wire. v

To secure the parts together, the support is first screwed or driven into place, and the spool is attached tlnrreto by winding the ends of the wire 1) around the truunions (1". Then the two members of the clamp are clasped about the conductor, as shown in Fig. l', and their ends are inserted in the socket IF, after which the clamp is held stationary-and the spool is rotated, so as to draw the threaded portion of the clamp into the socket b By reason of the large diameter of the aperture c termed in the lower end of he clamp, the conductor is free to move longilw dinally therethrough, or the insulator may be mm'ed relatively to the wire without much danger of ahrading the insulation therein, Even should the insulation be stripped from the conductor there is no danger of the current being short-cireuited, since the clamp is thoroughly insulated by the spool b from the The support may he set at practically any angle to the longitudinal axis of the spool, as

shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, whereby itmaybe driven into any accessible place in the limb of a tree or elsewhere.

The trnnnions permit the spool to rock about an axis at an angle to its longitudinal axis of rotation when the limbs of the trees are swayed by the wind, and by mounting the spool so as to turn'in the trunniouing-ring it may be swung, as shown in dotted lines in Fl". 6, to accommodate a wire running in any direction relatively to the axis of the trunnions.

I do not wish to he understood as limiting myself to any of the details of construction of the parts above described, since it is evident to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates. that the spool and the support may be'varied in shape to suit any particular= requirements and that the clamp may 2. An insulator cmnprising a su1-,. n't, an'

insulating-spool, connections hetm -u said support and said spool whereby the utter is rotatable about two intersecting axes, and a spool, a support, and trunnions for pivotally connecting. said spool to said support, said spool being rotatable about an axis intersecting the axis of the trunuions.

[3. An insulator comprising a support, an iusulal iug-spool carried by said support, and a clamp consisting' of non-rotary clampingjaws mounted in the spool to engage the'conduetor, said parts being connected whereby said clamp is rotatable about either of two intersecting axes.

7. An insulator comprising a bifurcated support, a ring having trunnions j ournaled in thehil'urcated end of said support, an insulating-spool rotatably mounted in said ring, and a eonductorclamp having a threaded connection with said spool.

S. An insulator comprising asupport, an insnli-iliug-spool rotatably mounted in said support and having a threaded socket, and a threaded eondactor-clamp detaehably secured in said socket.

(I. An insulator comprising a support, an instituting-spool rotatably mounted in said support and having a threaded socket, and a threaded comluctor-clamp dctachably secured in said socket, said clam p heingformed in two separable portions.

10. An insulator-comprising a support having an attaching member on one end and forked armson the other, a spool rotal-ahly secured in said arms, and havinga threaded socket located concentrically with its axis of rotation, and a threaded clamp detacha-hly inserted in said socket.

1]. An insulator comprising a support having an attaching member on one end and forked arms on the other, a ringhaving trunnious journaled in said arms, an insulating spool mounted to rotate in said ring, and having a threaded socket, and athreaded conductor-el'amp formed of two members sepa 

